This invention relates to an apparatus for cutting paper. The apparatus is especially useful for cutting end rolls, a byproduct of the newspaper industry.
In the newspaper industry, large diameter rolls of paper are processed and cut in conventional paper cutting machines, such as discussed below. As long as a roll maintains a fairly large diameter, it can be sufficiently cut by these machines. However, once the rolls become narrow (towards the end of the roll) prior art machines cannot continue to process the paper. These narrow rolls are removed and generally discarded as unusable. This narrow roll byproduct is usually called an "end roll."
Several prior art patents disclose machines for cutting paper. None of these patents disclose machines for cutting end rolls. These patents are discussed below.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,419, entitled MATERIAL CUTTING MACHINE, to Cleghorn, discloses a machine which accepts a sheet of paper through a pair of cylindrical rollers and cuts the sheet into a predetermined length. This patent does not disclose the stacking or cutting of rolls of paper or the cutting of multiple layers of paper.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,535, entitled CONTINUOUS SHEET COLLATING METHOD AND APPARATUS, to Kleid et al., discloses a collating system for wrapping a single web of paper around a rotating drum, cutting the paper into a desired length, and then collating the desired number of cut sheets. This patent does not disclose the stacking or cutting of multiple layers of paper from multiple rolls.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,257, entitled INDEPENDENT, OFF-LINE DEVICE FOR THE CUTTING OF A ROLL OF PAPER INTO SHEETS, to Naert, discloses a device for cutting a large roll of paper into desired single sheet lengths. This patent does not disclose the stacking or cutting of multiple layers of paper from multiple rolls.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,667, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC SHEET CUTTING AND STACKING, to D'Angelo et al., discloses cutting single or double layers of microfoam material into desired lengths and widths. This patent does not disclose the cutting of more than two layers. Moreover, the rolls are unrolled from beneath the roll such that the tops of the rolls rotate away from the cutting apparatus.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for stacking and cutting paper from multiple rolls.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which stacks and cuts paper from end rolls.
Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description to follow, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.